Rewriting Russian Gymnastics

Find here Lupita's translation of another excellent R Sport interview , this time with Ksenia Afanasyeva : Ksenia Afanasyeva at a recent press conference “The National gymnastics team has three strong leaders: Anastasia Grishina, Viktoria Komova and Aliya Mustafina”, World champion Ksenia Afanasyeva told the agency R-Sport. Аfanasyeva was the winner of the team competition (2010) and won an event title (floor, 2011).  “I can’t say who the leader of our team is, because we have three strong gymnasts, three leaders – Аnastasia Grishina, Viktoria Komova and Aliya Mustafina- “, said Afanasyeva. – “And they are all strong in their own way”. Concerning her own position in the national team, the sportswoman said:  “Those three girls are very strong in the all around, and I am very strong at floor”  “I am perhaps the leader on floor, but they are leaders in the all around and will be more useful to the team”, - she added. – “I know that I can help the team o...

Thanks to Alar, Kyan, Albert and all at the All Around Forum who keep us all up to date with translations and links. Vladimirova, Alexandr (2012) We have ten gymnasts trying for London - Alexander Alexandrov, rsport.ru 25th March 2012 English language translation via Russian.Gymnasts.Net.  Russian language version available at http://rsport.ru/interview/20120325/587639713.html accessed 3rd April 2012 Russian TV (unknown channel) Aliya Mustafina : the hardest thing is working day in and day out late March 2012 complete with English language translation of Aliya's interview Gallery of video of the Russian gymnasts at the Jesolo Cup , via Russian Gymnasts.net Vladimirova, Alexandr (2012) Grishina: I need more competitive experience rsport.ru 25th March 2012 English language translation via Russian.Gymnasts.Net.  Russian language version available at http://sport.mail.ru/news/qymnastics/8444717/ accessed 3rd April 2012 Russia, Ukraine win at Zakharova Cup - via The A...

The winning Moscow team at this year's Russian Championships.  L to R : Anastasia Grishina, Maria Syrnikova, Anna Myzdrikova, Maria Paseka, Maria Chibiskova, Aliya Mustafina Moscow completed a convincing win ( see results ) in the national team championships yesterday, taking the title by more than four points over their rivals from the Central District.  Moscow came first on all apparatus except beam, where Central headed the field with strong performances from Ksenia Afanasyeva, Anna Pavlova, and Yulia Inshina. There is an excellent report on The All Around , who have transcribed the results seen below: In the unofficial all around, 2008 Olympics veteran Ksenia Afanasyeva came first with an impressive 59.733, ahead of Anastasia Grishina who managed a score of 59.1 despite a fall from beam. Third placed Yulia Belokobylskaya redeemed herself somewhat from the previous day's competition, improving her performance by almost three points to score 56.967 including a 14.6 ...

Since my somewhat disastrous attempts at forecasting the national team for the 2011 World Championships, I have decided to steer clear of predictions. But the Russians have just published details of their official squads for 2012 so we do have some information to chew over. This is the first in a series of blogs where I will present the names of the national team members : women, men, the various junior ranks, and the coaches. It's still early days, and who knows who will survive the precarious path towards fitness for the Olympics. Oh my goodness, how I would like to see them ALL in peak condition by the time of the Olympics. At the present time, it is clear that the American women's team is by far the strongest and deepest in the world. John Geddert's recent Facebook declaration (19th January) that 'the USA looks better than ever' demonstrates the confidence that makes them almost inevitable winners in London. The Russian team will challenge strongly, though...

World Floor Champion Ksenia Afanasyeva and her coach Maria Nazarova attended the opening on the 1st December of a new gymnastics hall for the Junior Sports School of the Olympic Reserves in her hometown, Tula . Yet more evidence (see yesterday's post on Denis Ablyazin) of the investment Russia is making currently in its sports effort. If you are in the UK, you will be able to see on BBC IPlayer a twenty minute programme ('Olympic dreams - the Russians are coming') on the development of contemporary, post Soviet Russian sports, presented by Matthew Pinsent. There is no direct reference to artistic gymnastics, but he visits Ekaterinburg, Moscow and Sochi and speaks to a variety of sporting coaches, athletes and commentators. 'The chaos of the last twenty years is beginning to disappear', he says, and there is reason to expect outstanding results in the near future. But competition from China is a worry; this country adopted the old Soviet mantra of early speci...

There are some gorgeous photographs on the Russian Gymnastics Federation website of the gymnasts celebrating their achievements at the Tokyo World Championships - Tatiana Nabieva, Ksenia Afansyeva, Viktoria Komova and Denis Ablyazin. It made me smile to see them so happy.

Russia's new World Champion, Ksenia Afanasyeva, appears in a ten minute panel interview on Sports Expert. The written commentary notes that the gold she won on floor in Tokyo is the most important victory of her career; before she had won the gold, she was considering retiring from the sport. I'm sure many of us would love to know the main points Ksenia makes in this interview which begins at 9.30 on the video link provided here . Could anyone possibly provide a brief translation?

Queen Elizabeth is officially appalled.  Her flag (unusually, white blue and red) is flying at half mast.  Remember these names - Ksenia Afanasyeva, Viktoria Komova, Anna Dementieva, Yulia Belokobylskaya, Yulia Inshina, Tatiana Nabieva, Alyona Polyan - they are all consummate artistic gymnasts, fulfilling the requirements of the sport to be both artistic and dynamic.   They are a vibrant example of a dying breed, and they alone keep the sport alive. There is not enough time in the world for me to articulate the dissent and dismay I am feeling at present, after the women's all around final.  So for now, I will keep my silence.  Other than to offer my sympathy - and congratulations - to Viktoria Komova in particular, and Ksenia Afanasyeva and the entire Russian team in general.   But shortly, in the not too distant future, I intend to produce a review.  A state of War may shortly be declared.  A War of Words. That is all I have to say a...

Russia did well in the first, qualifying, day of competition in Tokyo, taking 2nd place in the team competition behind a solid USA, with youngster Viktoria Komova taking top position- by a whisker - in the all around.  It was a good performance from a team relatively weakened by the absence of world champion and team leader Aliya Mustafina, and a lingering injury to last year's Youth Olympics Champion Komova. Newcomers Yulia Inshina and Yulia Belokobylskaya performed a fantastic job for the team as strong lead off gymnasts.  Beginning on bars, the team had no margin for error.  Inshina, starting up, had no previous experience of major international competition but showed no sign of nerves as she went through her routine flawlessly.  She is an enchanting little gymnast who performs her floor and beam routines with her head a little to one side, as if deep in contemplation.  A personal characteristic that adds no end of expression to her work.  A nice rewar...

As ever, the run-up to the World Championships provides a rich source of media on Russian Gymnastics.  Thanks to the Russian Gymnastics Federation for providing the links below: Tulsa news - Ksenia Afanasyeva will compete at the world championships Moscow Live - 12th September - Maria Paseka returns (Russian language version) English language version Antonova, Ksenia (date and publication unknown) 'Nikita Ignatiev: Soldier's Son' There is also now an entire section of the RGF site dedicated to the World Championships where a link to the official site including the full schedule of competition including working order for qualifications can be found. 'Arms Race' Russia 2 video on Sportbox including the Russian men in training, including brief conversations with Andrei Rodionenko, Konstantin Pluzhnikov and Anton Golutsotskov.  Addresses the increasing levels of difficulty in the sport and training methods. Interview with Alexei Nemov on Russian programm...

Anna Dementieva has repeated her all around victory at this February's Russian national championships with a gold medal in the all around at the Russia Cup, held this afternoon in Ekaterinburg.  In so doing, she recorded the highest scores on vault (previously a significant weakness, she is said to have mastered a double twisting Yurchenko), beam and floor, amassing a total score of 59.8.  In second place was Viktoria Komova, whose 15.7 on bars was her highest score.  The leader after qualifications, Ksenia Afanasyeva, suffered a double fall on bars and was reduced to fourth place at this competition behind a consistent Yulia Belokobylskaya.  Tatiana Nabieva, competing only on bars and vault, redeemed herself somewhat today after a disappointing round of qualifications.  Her 15.2 on bars was second to Komova and she managed a reasonable vault score of 14.4.   National team contender Ramila Musina did not compete today because of illness. 1 ...

Veteran artistic gymnast Ksenia Afanasyeva leads the first day of Russia Cup competition in Ekaterinburg, ahead of European champion Anna Dementieva and newcomer to the senior team, Viktoria Komova.  This annual competition will form an important element of the selection process for the national team for autumn's World Championships.  Full individual results can be viewed on the Federation's website . Afanasyeva is said to be the gymnast on top form at this competition, having fully recovered from an injury she had been carrying for some time.  Viktoria Komova performed extremely well considering she was not initially expected to compete on all four pieces, and achieved the highest score on bars. Only three of last year's World Championships team - Afanasyeva, Dementieva and Semenova - featured in the top ten here (Semenova, recently returned to Lake Krugloye to begin full training, finished in 7th place).  Tatiana Nabieva competed only vault and bars but seems t...

Putting aside worries about injuries, we have seen this year how the deselection of certain gymnasts from competition rosters can influence competition outcomes and delay the often simplistic conclusions we gym fans want to draw.  Komova's lack of appearance on the senior front leaves us completely befuddled and Mustafina's sudden withdrawal from the European Championships beheaded Russian, European and, arguably, World gymnastics.  We are unsure whether these two gymnasts can possibly make it back to their former level and Dementyeva now appears as the poster girl of the forthcoming Russian Cup competition.  However, she might as well have a giant question mark over her head for all the credit she is given for her achievements. Similarly, the recent EYOF was without its top contender (Anastasia Grishina) and her closest domestic rival (Anastasia Sidorova), leaving us wondering how the results would have been affected if the Russian team had included those we consider t...

Aliya speaks warmly of the many video montages presented on her website - so nice to hear that she has been encouraged! I believe that both Aliya Mustafina and Viktoria Komova are currently in Germany. Aliya is undergoing an assessment of her rehabilitation progress, while Viktoria has undergone arthroscopic surgery to her injured ankle. (Thanks to Alan Owen for this information.) Reading between the lines, I think there is fair reason to be optimistic that Viktoria will compete at worlds this autumn. Aliya's recovery was always going to take longer, but seems to be going well. She is obviously determined to compete in 2012 and it seems to be pretty much a business-as-usual attitude from her. With Tatiana Nabieva also taking a rest to recuperate her painful back (due back in full training on the 25th May) the Russian team seems to have been beleaguered by injury recently. Well ... I suppose injuries are part of the sport; and it might actually be beneficial for the top...

Qualification results are now available at the Russian gymnastics federation website . Anna Dementyeva features in the top three on bars, beam and floor with Afanasyeva providing some good back up on beam and floor and Kurbatova featuring reasonably soundly on bars and vault.  Chusovitina leads vault, Seitz bars, Millousi beam and Dementyeva floor.  The Russian team looks reasonably assured of at least some medals at this relatively modest competition. Link here to a video report from Vesti in the run up to the competition, featuring footage of Mustafina training bars in a heavy leg brace and Afanasyeva training beam.  There are brief interviews with Mustafina and Dementyeva; Komova appears in the background, looking reasonably fit to me - could see no evidence of ankle strapping.  Golutsotskov is also featured. Find here a brief news story in which Valentina Rodionenko suggests Nabieva's absence is due to minor injury.